Italians collect new euro currency starter kits

Описание: (15 Dec 2001)

15 December 2001
1. Exterior post office
2. Mid shot people standing in line for euro kits
3. Close up shot post office worker handing out bags of euros
4. Mid shot same
5. Close up bags of coins
6. Mid shot two men trying to get ahead, teller gestures them to wait
7. Close up man holding bag of coins
8. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Vox Pop:
"(I want the starter kit) for teaching my mother, my brothers, my renters, the use of the money and to learn it a bit myself, touch them (coins),and feel them to see how they are."
9. Close up looking at coins in bag
10. Mid shot two men trying to get ahead, post office worker gestures them to wait
11. Close up man counting out money and receiving euros
12. Various post office worker giving out bags of euros
13. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Paolo Arduini, Poste Italiane:
"There was great anticipation. The press has been talking about it a long time, people were curious to get this money in their hands, if not there would not have been this urgency to get it because until the 28th of February, you can still use the lire. "
14. Euro coin spilling out bag

11 December 2001
15. Wide shot Roman Mint (new mint for making euros)
16. Various shot of newly minted euros
17. Various euro coins being checked
18. Two close up coins
19. Close euro starter kits coming off conveyor belt

STORYLINE

Europe's new currency, the euro, has made its public debut in the form of 'starter kits', which give people the chance to try out the new notes and coins before they become legal tender on New Year's Day.

In Rome people began queuing at local post offices on Saturday morning to pick up small bags of newly minted coins.

It's the first time the Italian public has been able to handle the currency that will soon link cities from Portugal to Finland and Germany.

Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Finland will also distribute their kits on Saturday.

France, Ireland and the Netherlands gave out theirs on Friday but Germany, Greece and Portugal are waiting until Monday.

The euro will become the legal tender for some 300 million (m) Europeans in 12 of the EU's 15 nations.

Euros will circulate alongside national currencies for a period of between one and two months, depending on the country.

After that, French francs, German marks, Italian lira and other national currencies within the euro zone will become obsolete.

Central banks will still exchange national currencies for several months afterward.

Three countries -Britain, Denmark and Sweden - are remaining outside the euro zone.

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